THREE bodies have been recovered after a dive yacht was sunk by a freak wave off the coast of Egypt, the Red Sea governor has confirmed.
Rescue teams have been searching for 16 people they fear are still missing after the boating tragedy with two Brits reportedly unaccounted for.
Emergency crews have now found three of the missing tourists after search efforts intensified this morning, governor Amr Hanafi told Reuters today.
No further information on the nationalities or identities of those found have been released yet.
It is also still unclear where the bodies were discovered.
Hanafi confirmed that rescue teams – made up of the Navy, helicopters and divers – are still looking for 13 more passengers who were onboard the luxury boat.
The Sea Story yacht left Porto Ghalib Port for a multi-day diving trip on November 24, with 45 people on board.
At around 5:30am local time, a crew member sent out a distress signal from the boat before it suddenly dropped off the radar and lost all contact.
Authorities say 28 people have been rescued and were all taken to safety with no major injuries being reported.
The doomed yacht took just five minutes to sink with tourists left trapped inside their cabins, Hanafi revealed.
Witnesses described seeing an “abnormally large” wave hitting the boat before it capsized.
A professional diver who was out on the water when the yacht was attacked by the wave has revealed the horrifying five minute disaster.
They said: “I was on the surface when things started to go wrong. I felt the boat tilting sharply, and I tried to hold on to something stable, but the capsizing was very fast.
“I heard screams from inside the cabins, but many were unable to get out because the doors were closed and the place was filled with water.”
Another tourist, believed to be a Brit, added: “It was pitch black and the water was all around us.
“I tried to swim up but the current was so strong I felt like I was suffocating.
“What saved me was my life jacket that kept me on the surface until rescue teams arrived.”
Many of those still feared missing are believed to be experienced divers.
According to the ship tracking website Marine Traffic, the last location shared by the boat was off Hurghada.
Four Germans, two Spaniards, two Belgians, two Americans, one Irishman, and a Finn were on board, according to local media.
The others on the trip were from China, Slovakia, Switzerland, Poland, Norway, Finland and Egypt.
Eight survivors have been named so far.
They include Ahmed Ramzy, Mohamed Ibrahim, Ayman Foley, Ahmed Sayed Ali, Mohamed Mohamed Metwally, Ahmed Adel, Ali Shaaban and Mohamed Mustafa, report Zaaed News.
It is still unclear which nationalities they are all from.
The Chinese embassy in Egypt has already declared two of its citizens are safe.
Support is also being given to “a number of British nationals and their families”, the UK Foreign Office confirmed.
The urgent hunt for the remaining missing people has seen the Navy called in to aid in rescue operations near Marsa Alam.
Alongside them the Armed Forces in search and rescue work and the General Command of the Armed Forces have been deployed.
The boat had been on the water despite authorities in Hurghada shutting down activities and the city’s port on Sunday due to “bad weather conditions.”
Egyptian weather forecasters predicted wave heights to reach 10-13ft in the Red Sea before Sea Story departed.
It was unclear how the tourist vessel was given permission to sail in such stormy conditions.
